Job Discussion Forums

scot47 · Joined: 10 Jan 2003 Posts: 15343

I know people who got KSA visas in Bangkok but it all depends on your employer. Some will and some won't. If you are not legally resident in Thailand it can be a problem.

EFLUndercover · Joined: 26 May 2007 Posts: 82

Baedaebok,

Would you mind PMing me to explain the process you went through to obtain your work visa in the Gulf instead of returning to your country of origin. I would appreciate it. Thanks.

passport220 · Joined: 11 May 2005 Posts: 117

My employer seems to think I can get the visa here in Thailand and has sent the contract and other required documents to apply. I will go to the Saudi Embassy in Bangkok on Tuesday�I�ll post the results later in the week.

passport220 · Joined: 11 May 2005 Posts: 117

My employer seems to think I can get the visa here in Thailand and has sent the contract and other required documents to apply. I will go to the Saudi Embassy in Bangkok on Tuesday�I�ll post the results later in the week.

Imdramayu · Joined: 09 Feb 2007 Posts: 394 Location: South Korea

I have a few suggestions which I can share on the public forum:

1. My company asked my at first which KSA consulate I choose to get my KSA visa through. I emailed them my choose of a Gulf country. They then applied to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) for my Visa Authorization Letter (VAL) and had it sent to this consulate location of my choose. My name soon entered "the system" (whatever that means, consulate's computer system, I suppose) and I applied for the visas, did my medical, and then I received the visas.

2. If having trouble, ensure your company has sent MFA in KSA a request for VAL.

3. Ensure your VAL lists you and any other family members (spouse or children). If it doesn't, ask your sponsoring company to fax a request letter to the consulate asking them to include their names.

3. Be persistant with the consulate in presenting a copy of this fax. They may do what you ask in later visits even if they refuse to do it at the first visit.

passport220 · Joined: 11 May 2005 Posts: 117

Sincere �Thank you!� for the detailed information.

As an update, I have been to the Saudi Embassy in Bangkok and they reviewed the paperwork I have in hand. My paperwork was first reviewed by a Thai and then two Saudi staff. They stated that they are willing to issue a visa for both me and my wife, but they await a document that has to be approved in my home country (Washington D.C.). They reviewed my paperwork in detail�the question about my wife was more a general positive to my general question (they have not seen any paperwork on my wife�they just said she could get the visa once I got mine).

It sounds promising, but I will not get too excited about it until I have the visa in hand�I will provide an additional update as progress (or lack of) comes about.

Regards

scot47 · Joined: 10 Jan 2003 Posts: 15343

You should remember that these procedures change. They also vary depending on the employer and on the nationality of the applicant.

hkl · Joined: 10 Jul 2008 Posts: 3

Hello Passport,

How are things going?

ghost · Joined: 30 Jan 2003 Posts: 1693 Location: Saudi Arabia

Yes, the process takes a long time. In my case, it took me 12 weeks (3 months) to get the visa, in Canada. And I was doing stuff related to getting the visa every day during that time, including medicals, getting documents authenticated, sending faxes and e-mails to various Universities, getting criminal record checks.

I was lucky to be able to find a summer job in Canada during that time, otherwise, it would have been very expensive to just stay in Canada as a tourist. I no longer had an apartment and had to stay in a motel.

Getting the Korean visa was much easier, in retrospect, although it seemed hard at the time.

To go through all that hassle - one has to be really sure one wants to live and work in Saudi. I did my research. But even then - the final answer will come, when you finally get there.

Ghost

passport220 · Joined: 11 May 2005 Posts: 117

Hiya

I had some other offers and the issue of a dependent visa for my wife was never resolved�so I decided instead to take a University gig in Japan.

I was given conflicting information about if I could have ever gotten a Saudi visa in Bangkok�In the end I do not know if it is possible or not.

scot47 · Joined: 10 Jan 2003 Posts: 15343

It really does all depend on your employer in KSA.
Why ? Ah well that is the way things work.

McBrainiac · Joined: 08 Sep 2007 Posts: 61 Location: Somewhere warm

Even if you have an excellent employer (like mine) never forget that you are dealing with the Saudi government and that can be very frustrating.

In my case, I am in the process of obtaining my visa thru the embassy in Manila. It has been quite an ordeal, partly because none of the licensed agents knew how to deal with a non-Philippino, and partly because the embassy refused to answer e-mails, the phone, and denied me entry onto the embassy grounds so that I could ask the embassy staff how to proceed.

I am going to lose the better part of one month worth of salary because of this BS, none of which I could have done anything to prevent. Btw, I was told that KFUPM has 2 or 3 other teachers having similar problems in various other countries. Hope everyone gets these issues solved so that we can get back to work!

Stephen Jones · Joined: 21 Feb 2003 Posts: 4124

I know of three teachers in the English Language Department who haven't arrived yet. Whether all three are the result of visa problems I don't know.

Hosmer · Joined: 06 Dec 2006 Posts: 1

It's probably too late to help Passport220, but for anyone else, this is the situation I faced in September this year as a Brit applying from Bangkok (Citibank Building Silom)
The visa has to be processed by one of a handful of agencies nominated by the Saudi Embassy. This is a recent innovation.
The embassy also has a checklist of documents you need. The one that scared me was the certificate from the relevant authorities (the Greater Manchester Police in my case) that I haven�t got a record. Not that I have got a record yet but the doc. takes six weeks to process plus post from England. The agency I used told me they could do without it.
What you do need, and what is non-negotiable, (I tried, I can tell you!) is proof of residence in Thailand. The only things they'd accept for this were a current Thai work visa or a ONE YEAR non-immigrant visa O or A (O is the Business visa and A the married-to-a-Thai one)
You also need two consecutive blank pages in your passport. This is to avoid the stress to the Saudi Immigration Officials of having to turn over multiple pages.
Unless you're working in Thailand I'd say go home to get your visa. If you're coming back to Thailand intending to get a Saudi Visa for another job, try to get a one year Thai visa before you go (and good luck that too!)